


Level Up

by lazerlightning777



Series: Skyline [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Original Story - Freeform, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:02:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 18,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29637126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazerlightning777/pseuds/lazerlightning777
Summary: When cellmates Rey and Hikari open a mysterious black box, they find a video game that sucks them into its immersive world, and with it, a dangerous set of of challenges. Can they work together to figure out how to get out, or will the glitches catch up them? (and yes, this is the same story from Wattpad just moved on to a new platform, so you're not really missing anything here.)
Series: Skyline [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177658





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a repost of Level Up, but now since I (finally!) have an AO3 account, I'm going to also start updating here. Follow my Wattpad account if you want to stay updated with new announcements and whatnot.

**P R O L O G U E**

**R E Y**

_Boom! Boom Boom!_ “Hello?” 

I wake up with a start and accidentally hit my head on the wooden bottom of the second tier of the bunk bed. I roll my eyes. Hikari must have been awake by now to scare the living nightmares out of me. Not that anyone has them anymore. I tumble out of the bottom bunk and look up.

“Yeah?” I reply.

“Wake up sleepy pants, the sun’s been up for ages!” Hikari retorts.

Ha. That was a line from one of my favorite shows before the war, _Winx Club_ . I quickly jump to my feet, stride past my cellmate, and run up to the circle shaped window, where the sun blindingly obscures my view of the city and the rich, luxurious houses below. Where **I** should be. The high tech prisons people like me live in are nothing compared to those houses, however.

I wave my hand over the thermostat. December 10, 2057. 64 degrees Fahrenheit. **8:05 A.M.**

Crap. I’m late for breakfast. Hikari giggles as she watches me scurry around the room for my toothbrush and clothes while she checks the dropscreen that just arrived at our door. I brush my teeth and head into the shower. As I turn the water temperature to 90 degrees, I think about how I got myself into this mess.


	2. Chapter 2

**C H A P T E R 1** : 

**R E Y**

September 26th, 2053, I was 10 at the time. A war has recently been fought against the West and the East of the globe, resulting in another divided country. It had ravaged most of California, Chicago, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. After this stopped, democracy turned into a dictatorship. 

For her first decree, Sarah Cho, our new dictator wanted everyone to believe that she was a fair and just leader. And then, the mass production of the Wipeout serum began. The serum gave people a form of retrograde amnesia to whoever took it. However, they’d retain info about their name, family, friends, and memories other than the recent war and the change in government.

But it didn’t work on me and 5% of the people living in the Circlet. They eventually found out by running a test inside our homes and I got most of the questions right and so did my sister, who was 7. We then were told to pack our belongings and pictures. Then, we were escorted to the prison by Cho’s guards without saying a single goodbye. 

Me and my sister unknowingly approached that silver-sky high building with her guards flanking us, unaware that we were about to spend the next 4 years living in a cell, for only those living in that building knew what had happened to the world.

I get out of the shower and wrap myself in those fluffy, soft towels. Yeah, you may be wondering why this prison is so luxurious. The thing is, Cho was willing to go to any lengths to make us believe in her lies and brainwashed the entire building into thinking they were in a special program for gifted children. Again they gave us tests, but only this time, we were smart enough to trick her and blend in.

I get dressed in a turquoise turtleneck sweater and black and white striped tights. I then burst out of the bathroom and nudge Hikari, who was busy eating a bagel and reading a copy of an old book she checked out from the resources area in the center of the Celltower.

She tosses me the dropscreen and I order a stack of pancakes with the points I’ve earned for following the rules of the Celltower.

Almost instantly, warm pancakes dripping maple syrup appear through the slat of my door.

I pick up my fork and start digging in. I check my watch for my assignments and schedule for today. _Yes._ The courtyard is open today, which means I can check in on my little sister! 

* * * * *

After about 30 minutes, the light on our door turns green and swings open, indicating that it's time to start our day. I bound out the door happily while Hikari laces her combat boots.

The crowd near our cells is almost non-existent, as we are the oldest in this sector of the cell towers. Me and Hikari walk over to the transfer tubes, scan our bracelets, and let the floor drop.


	3. Chapter 3

**C H A P T E R 2:** **T I M E: 8 : 3 5 A. M**

 **R E Y** **N O V. 1 0 , 2 0 5 9**

*Squeak!*

I land on the floor, feet first. The door slides open and I walk through. My first period of the day is Language Arts. The Celltower acts like a boarding school, but with more leverage. I’ve always wanted to be an author when I grew up, but unfortunately, any and all of my hopes and dreams were crushed when I got thrown in here. Language Arts is really the only time when I can try to reclaim that creative spark that was once inside of me, however dull and fizzled out it may be.

I walk towards LA, my sneakers squeaking with every step that I make. Last night, Hikari and I snuck out after-hours for some star-gazing. Normally, this would be the time of night where the Celltower was monitored heavily, but thanks to Hikari’s affinity for hacking anything and everything (one time, she tried to hack into the tower’s water reserves while I was taking a shower. Not cool, man.) we were able to unlock the doors and sneak up to the roof. We were having fun, and pointing out constellations, until it started to rain, soaking our clothes. I hadn’t had time to dry them, and if I used the public dryer, the guards could’ve been suspicious.

I make it to the entrance, right on time, and scan my wrist for attendance as I wait for the teacher. Embedded deep into our wrists is a tracker that monitors our position, and vitals. So if we ever try to escape, we’d have either power off our chips, which would be near impossible since you can only do it momentarily, or cut it out, with the risk of dying from blood loss or electrocution, as a fair example to the cowering Cell-kids of what could happen if you try to escape. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying.

Take for example, the cell Hikari and I currently reside in. Back then, a famous fugitive known only as “The Burrower,” had dug holes extending to all the floors, giving him easy access to the entirety of the building. Heck, he’s the only reason we know so much about what’s happened to us, when Hikari got into contact with him after he’d escaped. Unfortunately, that conversation we had got tracked by Cho and he got himself locked up in the Celltower, in a Tower somewhere else, most likely with a burning hatred for us.

“Hello everyone!” The sharp voice of my Language Arts teacher shakes me out of my escape induced flashback. I sigh. Maybe one day, we’ll get a chance to escape, but for now, I have to stay put until the time comes.

* * * * *

**4 : 3 0 P. M.**

I’m finished with classes for today, and the courtyard is open to all floors today, so I make my way there. Usually, most Cell-kids prefer to stay all cooped up in their rooms to finish their homework, and Cordelia (my sister), Hikari and I take advantage of this to chat and meet up with each other, so the guards are busy focusing on the upper floors while the lower floors are practically deserted.

We normally share information about what we could dig up about the tower, and catch up with each other. Though she’s only three years younger than me, at 13, she’s incredibly smart and gifted, while I got the short end of the stick.

I walk into the courtyard, also known as the ‘Glade,’ and sit on top of the water fountain, writing a short story to get my gears-a-turning. At one point, Hikari must have walked in, ‘cause when I turned around to grab my pen, she scared the living daylights out of me!

“Did I get ya?” she exclaims with a mischievous look that she only wears when she pranks someone.

“Yes, yes you did.” I sigh, with a look on my face that radiates disgust, and she immediately backs down.

“Anyways, I got something from a fellow classmate of mine, and I was wondering if we could open it together!” She points to a black box decorated with what looked like gemstones reflecting all the colors of the light.

“I don’t see why not.” Normally, there are scammers lurking about the Tower to make some quick cash on the points we’ve earned. But Hikari knows this, and probably wouldn’t show it to me unless she knows it's absolutely safe. I shift from my cross legged position on the fountain and join her on the lush green carpet.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Delia?” I question as she lays out the box.

“Nah, I don’t think it matters, since I know it's safe, and if she’s late, we can show the contents later.”

“Fair point.” Delia’s always late, but I guess I can’t blame her, given that she’s super smart, and probably has a lot of homework to do.

We both put our hand out and reach for the cover of the box, lifting it slowly for extra precaution. Inside, is a silver pole-like thing with black swirls on it. Weird.

I pick the stick up with trembling hands, and it begins to vibrate. _What!?_ I drop the stick. It then begins to roll and spin on the ground. I fearfully take a glance at Hikari, who has a face of wonder, yet fear. _I thought you checked this!_ I say with my eyes. It then releases a light so blindingly white that I can’t see the normally gray sky outside.

Then I lose my grip on the ground. The pole or whatever it is, starts relentlessly sucking me in. The RGB values begin to flicker in the corner of my now milky-white vision.

T̸̢̃ͅͅh̶̖̙͋ẻ̷͈͍̜̱͍̿͋ṉ̶̢̛͜,̶̝̿͘ ̵̰̱̥̊͗̍͝a̷̯̿͛͋͛ͅl̴̬͇̱̲̊̐͝l̷̠̪͈̏̈́̐ ̴̢͔̭̥̅̍̇͌ġ̵̜͆̿͜ͅo̷͖̒͛͛ẹ̷̺͒s̴͍͖̈́͝ ̴̛̦͂̆̓̚b̷͍̏̏̆̕͠l̸̤̳̏å̶̡͎͔͚̠͑c̴̛̜̰͓͖̗k̵͈͖̬̾̑̂.̴͍̦͇̓̉̿


	4. Chapter 4

**C H A P T E R 3:**

**H I K A R I**

*Beep* *Sputter*

I wake up with a groan and slowly peel my eyes open.  _ Where am I? _ Then, it all comes rushing back.

“Aaargh!” I do a facepalm while laying on the floor. 

I thought that box was safe. Welp, apparently not. I got the box secretly shipped from a Cell Kid in Chicago, all the way to New York. I did the encryption and security checks necessary, but this may be a more powerful virus or threat or whatever it is. Naturally, being the scaredy-cat she is, Ray obviously made her objection loud and clear, but then eventually forgot about it. Can’t say that did any good for us. 

_ Wait, what ABOUT Ray?  _ Dangit, I need to find her!

I push myself to a sitting position. The ceiling above me is stark white and the walls a void-like black.  _ We’re definitely not in the Glade anymore.  _ I get up with a stretch and start pacing around, surveying my surroundings. Ray isn’t right next to me like I thought she would be, which is weird, because when that light blinded us, she was right next to me. We probably haven’t been found and rushed to the nurse’s office, since this isn’t a part of the Tower I recognize. Nor have we been kidnapped, judging by the way we got here, though it is possible that we were drugged and transported here.

I start drifting towards those empty, void-like walls, almost like they were the epitome of shadows themselves. Now that I know that there aren’t any security cameras around here, I guess it couldn’t hurt to explore this place. 

I walk into pitch black darkness-BANG! Ouch. Didn’t expect there to be a wall. I hit it once again while rubbing my sore forehead.  _ Weird.  _ When I try to do any damage to this wall, it bounces. I look at the floor and squint.  _ Hey wait, are those RGB values?  _ In a hurry, I try looking at the ceiling and squinting.  _ Yes, they definitely are!  _ Which means the place we’re in right now is completely digital, but somehow, it has substance!

And then, I hear a noise that makes me turn around. An almost inaudible whir, that is. 

“Hikari Morimoto, welcome to Skyworld!” a mechanical voice booms. I whirl around in surprise.

“What are you talking about? How do you know my name? And why, am I in a virtual environment of some sort!?” I bombard the voice with questions.

“Please enter your username.”

_ Wait. I recognize this layout! Isn’t this that game that got popular last year? AM I IN A VIDEO GAME!? With all that’s happened, this could be a perfectly plausible explanation. This. Is. Amazing!  _ A cyan outlined box, along with a keyboard appears. I type in my hacker name, *FORESTED_LIGHT* and the text turns magenta, and floats up.

“You will now be known as ‘*FORESTED_LIGHT*.’ Spawning you into the arena shortly.”

_ What? Where am I going!?  _ And suddenly, the floor collapses.


	5. Chapter 5

**C H A P T E R 4**

**H I K A R I**

I land in a sparse, empty hallway. Now that I know I’m in a video game, I might be able to take fall damage or risk getting pulverized by the next random thing that comes charging at me, so I tread cautiously. I make my way down the hallway, making sure I’m as quiet as possible.  _ Can I die here? What are even the consequences if I lose all of my health?  _ I ponder. 

“I hope I can get into contact with that girl that got me trapped here.” I hear an annoyed mutter to the right side of me. I whirl around. Standing there was a boy who looks about my age, with dark tan skin, cyan eyes, yellow rimmed glasses, and red to yellow gradient hair that puts my own dyed tips to shame. 

_ Dang. Where can I give myself a glow-up like that?  _ Given that this IS a game, he probably doesn't look like that in real life. He kind of looks familiar, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“Umm, can you stop staring at me?” he grumbled. Oops. Looks like I’ve been too caught up on his looks to notice him scowling at me.

“Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today!” it slips out of my mouth before I have the chance to think about what I’m saying.

Before I know it, his hair flares up, like a little candle.

“Well, no one asked you, besides, you’re making me late for the FLT!” he retorts sassily.

_ FLT, is that where this tunnel leads to? And what even is that?  _

“Hold on, is that where this tunnel leads to? And what does FLT even stand for?” I question him.

“Well, you must be new here, huh? So slow down and  _ maybe  _ I’ll think about answering your questions!” he answers, seeming to have calmed down a bit, though I probably don’t know the full range of this kid’s anger.

“Ok.” I reply. I dealt with hackers more angrier than him, but that was all over the internet. This is different, and I don’t even know this place.  _ Hmph, so much for keeping a low-profile and being careful. _

“Well, FLT stands for First Level Tournament… wait a second, how DID you get here? You don’t look like any player I’ve ever seen before, you’re not even customized like the others here, unless you want to count your hair as personalization.” his grouchiness being replaced with a puzzled look.

“Well,” I begin, “this is gonna sound crazy, and trust me, I don’t even know how this happened, so-”

“Can you stop with your exposition crap and get straight to the point?! I probably shouldn’t be talking to you anyways!  _ He’s back to being angry, but there’s a look of suspicion on his face.  _ It might be a good move to reveal the information that I had, given that he looks like he has the upper hand, and so he can trust me enough to help me. So I go with the honest approach.

“Fine. I opened a black box shipped to me from Chicago, and I got stuck in here. My best friend is most likely here, though I’m not a hundred percent sure.”

He stops, and stares hard into my eyes. Then, just when more people start flooding in, he pulls me by the arm and into a corner. 

“Hey, woah there! What the heck are you doing-”

“You can’t tell anyone about this, alright?” the boy cuts me off.

Then, he starts explaining.


	6. Chapter 6

**C H A P T E R 5**

**H I K A R I**

"Are you a virus?" he questions me while whispering.

"...I've heard rumors that something like this was going on, and that I should report one you guys for some cash. Hey! Are you even listening?!" the boy looks at me accusingly.

“I’m listening, don’t worry! I’m just regretting my life’s choices before opening that box.” I reply.

“How did you even get your hands on the box? And what did you need it for?” he asks me.

I decide to respond honestly, but then I stop. _Wait. Since this is a regular video game for people in the Circlet, how do I know that there aren’t bounties on my head, or any Cell-kid’s head for that matter? I can’t die here till I find Ray!_

“Well, I got it shipped from a Cell-kid from the Northern Towers, somewhere in Chicago.” I reply with a half-lie, so I can keep my story easily.

He looks taken aback at that, even intimidated. _Ha. I put that look on his face._ Ray calls me one of the haughtiest people I know, when it comes to bravery. But this, THIS has to be some of the craziest crap that I’ve gotten myself into.

“D-dang. You DO know that trading or receiving stuff from Cell-kids is illegal, you imbecile!” he sputters.

“Aww… look who’s suddenly concerned for someone else!” I retort. This may be a good distraction for him, so he can’t press me any further. Plus, it's fun to make this guy mad!

His hair’s flaming again, and he looks poised to rebut, but then, the hallway goes black, and the tunnel is almost pitch-black, with the boy’s hair being the only source of light. 

“What’s happening kid? Aren’t you a regular here?” I ask him as calmly as possible, so I don’t give him the impression that I’m scared. I’m honestly not as scared as I should be, as nothing’s really happened, but this could be the start of an uphill battle for me. And it could be metaphorical or literally, I mean, this IS a video game we’re talking about!

“Scorching_Blaze, my gamer tag, Blaze for short, and _that_ is the start of the FLT.” he answers, looking down the hallway for something.

“Well, to extend the formalities, my gamer tag is *FORESTED_LIGHT*.” I reply, all I can say.

At the second the light starts blinking, he yanks me out of the corner and down the hall, towards the end of the hallway.

“Man… aren’t you pushy. This is the second time today that you’ve done this.” I snark under my breath, my teasing coming out without any hesitation.

“Do you wanna die here? Of course not! So follow me and stop being such a prat!” he simmers.

I follow him until the end of the hallway, where we come to a wall with a single button. The lights are still flickering as we come closer.

“Umm...Blaze, why are the lights still flickering? And what does that button do?” I ask, controlling my impulsiveness to touch the buttons, so I don’t end up in a worse situation than the one I’m currently in. I also don’t want to put Ray at any additional risk.

“The lights basically function as a countdown timer to the beginning of the FLT. So far there have been 26 blinks, which mean 26 seconds.” he explains.

“So… how much time do we have before the test begins?” I query.

“Well, last time I took the test, the one I lost my teammates to, that is, was five minutes. And that button is our gateway in.” he replies.

“Wait, what do you mean, _lost your teammates?_ ” I quip.

“You’ll see what I mean once we enter,” Blaze replies. “So come on, quit loitering and push the button.”

I raise a shaking hand to the button, pulsing at the same rate the lights are flickering, and push it. Instantly, a blinding light fills the dim hallway, making me stumble back in surprise.

When the light finally dims, I see my gamer tag appear on top of my head, followed by Blaze’s, and we step into the room that appeared.

The room looks like a huge party, not that I’d know since I’ve never had one. The room is filled with people chatting, eating, showing off pets and making trading requests to each other. Then there are plain janes, the introverted ones, and the ones trying to... _PROGRAM!?_ _Jeez, if I had access to my tools, I’d probably hack myself and Ray out of here!_

Blaze reaches out for my hand, and tells me to follow him. Him and I walk towards the center of the room, where people are staring at a bunch of player names on a screen. _A leaderboard?_ I waddle closer to the screen. _Nope._ The screen title says “Monthly Victims For Today.”

“Hey, Blaze, is _this_ what you meant by losing your teammates?” I ask him, pretending to study the board like the other players.

“Well,” he starts. “that board tells us the victims up for ransom for the first test.” 

_RANSOM?!_

He continues. “The first test is basically having several random players as the jailed participants. The freed ones have to try to save a member of their choosing by completing three tests. Only those who passed those three tests will have the chance at grabbing one of the players as part of their team.”

“By the way, were you dropped here with anyone?” he follows.

By now I’ve decided it’s safe to trust him, so I tell him her name.

“Yeah, her name is Rey, I mean Reyne. Reyne Samida.” I tell him her full name with the hopes of finding her easily.

“Really? Then tell your friend that’s its stupid to put her full name as her account name.” he replies.

My throat dries. I immediately turn my head up to the screen, and gasp.

“Reyne_Samida has been chosen for ransom!”


	7. Chapter 7

**C H A P T E R 6**

**R E Y**

**-AROUND THE TIME THAT HIKARI ENTERED SKYWORLD-**

_ Ugh… my head, what happened? The last thing I remember was the box Hikari bought glowing different colors and then exploding in our faces.  _ I open my eyes to a glowing white ceiling, a ceiling so stark white it's almost blinding. I groan and sit up. My back is stiff, and everything in my body feels light as air.  _ Where are we? Did...someone drug me? _

Wait.  _ Where  _ **_is_ ** _ Hikari? _ I turn my head in both directions.  _ She’s not here...right? Oh no.  _ Hikari’s probably the best person you’d want to have in a situation like this. She’s brave (albeit very reckless), she’s smart, and she’s confident. I kind of envy her boldness, even calling her a Mary Sue sometimes as a joke, but right now, I could use a Mary Sue!

“Rey Samida, welcome to SkyWorld!” 

_ What was that?! _

I don’t have enough time to process what happened when a cyan dialogue box appears.

“Please enter your username.” the mechanical voice booms.  _ A username? Is this a game of some sort? Or an experiment!? I heard Cho did stuff like this to escapees. Wait, are we even in the Cell Tower anymore!? Oh god, what’s happening!? _

“Please enter your username.” the mechanical voice echoes.  _ I guess I just have to enter a username. Fingers crossed Hikari landed in the same place I did! _

I start to enter my usual username for Roblox and Minecraft, but then I pause.  _ If I want Hikari to find me quickly, shouldn’t I enter my full name as my username, that is, if she’s here.  _ I enter Reyne_Samida as my username, grimacing as I do so.  _ Hopefully I can change my username later. _

“You will now be known as ‘Reyne_Samida’, spawning you into the arena shortly.” the voice says.  _ Wonder where I’ll end up. _ Then, the floor pixelates into nothingness underneath me. I fall.

This time, I don’t black out, but find myself seated on a metal floor, surrounded by shadows. I squint into the darkness. No shadows, just people... _ wait...PEOPLE?! _ These people aren’t ordinary, as I look closer though. There are people with crazy colored hair, poets that look like they’ve been stripped right from a fantasy book, and ginormous weapons.  _ Is this really a game?  _

_ Weird.  _ As I look around, the walls start changing colors, and a mutter rises from the crowd. 

“Reyne_Samida has been chosen for ransom!” I hear the same voice from before.

_ Ransom? What do they mean by ransom, and why do the people here look eerily calm?  _ They have the demeanor of people who’ve gone to prison once, and aren’t afraid of doing it again. They look bored, with varying degrees of calm. 

“BANG!” The floor starts rising, and I get dizzy with vertigo. I struggle to get to my feet, and trip over another person’s legs

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” the girl I’ve tripped over says.

_ Crap.  _ I start sliding towards the edge of the platform, which apparently does have an end. And then, several bars start sticking to the edge of the platform, forming a wall. This happens on all four sides, and as we continually rise, the crowd reacts happily.  _ Is this really a regular occurrence? _

Finally, we reach the top of wherever we’re headed, and I almost have a heart attack because of the sudden stop. 

“Hello gamers, Welcome to the First Level Tournament! I will be your host, Lunar-Moon789!” 

Screens form all over the walls of the cage. I swivel to the one I’m leaning against. It looks like my mother’s high school prom, but with a bunch more modern-day elements.  _ Guess this IS really a video game, huh?  _ I keep watching the party scene, looking for Hikari, If she’s really there. Then, I find a familiar face, framed by long black hair cut into layers, tips and bangs dyed cyan and magenta.  _ Hikari?  _ I hone in on the face.  _ Yep, definitely her.  _ She’s standing near a boy who looks like a match.  _ Has she already found a companion? Typical.  _

Lunar-Moon continues. “The players you see right now are the people that will pick you if they pass the tests we have in store for them. Don’t worry about not getting picked, as there are always new players popping into the arena every second, and you’ll be placed in a different server!”

_ God, what have we gotten ourselves into!? _

* * * * *

**H I K A R I**

I freeze. By now, everyone in the arena stops talking and starts listening to Lunar-Moon789’s announcement. She’s explaining the rules for the first level.

Now that I’m aware that Ray’s one of the players up for ransom, I have to play things safely and complete this level in one shot, otherwise, I could be separated from Ray for who knows how long?!

Blaze pokes me on the shoulder. I whip my head around almost immediately, causing him to jump back in surprise.

“Sorry for being jumpy, now what do you want?” 

“We just have to beat this level and break your companion out, before you start asking any questions.” he replies before I can even ask him.

“Do you know what the tests are then?” I ask while Lunar-Moon lists the sponsors and copyright for this match.

Well, the first two are randomized, that’s all I can say from watching other let’s-plays. But the final test is always a 2v2 partner battle that will ultimately decide who wins.”

“How many levels are there?” I ask him.

He responds, “30 levels so far, though, since this is a relatively new game, I think more levels will be coming out in the future.”

_ So in order to get out of here, I’ve gotta try to beat the level, or the game. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? _


	8. Chapter 8

**C H A P T E R 7**

**A V I N A S H**

I don’t know why I decided to trust *FORESTED_LIGHT* in the first place. She looked like a bot, or a virus. Even my friends who play SkyWorld said to not trust people like that, saying that people like that are normally scammers, and even I agreed with them at one point, but then, I went ahead and did it.

Yet, as I stand here, I’m not so sure if this was a good idea. First off, *FORESTED_LIGHT* or ‘Light,’ as I’ve come to call her is unbearably annoying. She asks questions at the worst possible moments and makes me almost want to throw my headset in frustration. I guess this is why I always play solo, but to pass this first level, you have to at least make a partnership before you recruit anyone into your team.

“Blaaze~” Light suddenly shakes me from my haze.  _ Ugh, not again. _

“Yeah?” I grumble, a bit disoriented from spacing out.

“You’ve been on this FLT for quite some time, huh?” 

“Yeah…? Why are you going on this crap again?” I mutter.

“Then why do you act like you’re a pro at this game, considering that you’ve probably been stuck on this level for who knows how long?” she taunts.

See. That’s the other thing I hate about her, is that her insults come as easily as breathing to her.

I’m poised to respond with an equally impactful response when I turn to face her, but then I stop. She’s been nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, her eyes scanning the room almost frantically. Instinctively, I try to put a hand on her shoulder as a reassuring gesture, but then I stop myself midair and put my hand down.  _ Stop it,  _ I say to myself,  _ you shouldn’t be trusting her. She could be putting on an act, trying to make me vulnerable.  _

I shudder. She hadn’t seemed to notice my near-gesture, which is a good thing.

“Finally, here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for! New players, it's time to select your roles! And repeaters, you get to vote for the first test, so choose wisely!” Lunar-Moon practically screeches.  _ Is she trying to make everyone deaf!? _

Behind my back, I hear a couple cheers. Light and I turn our heads around. The other three walls start glowing, outlined in neon, incandescent light.

“Aaalrighty repeaters,~” Lunar-Moon chirps, “we have three options on these three walls, but before you get voting, first-timers! Time to get your battle roles!”

_ Time for the moment of truth.  _ I see the dialog box pop up in front of Light. The devs had made it so bots can’t go anywhere from here. It does so by scanning the player for any malware and unusual glitches. Then the selection process begins, going by personality type, which I always found a bit weird that the game could get into your head like that, just by using your voice chat and determining your main mood, personality, and skill in any field since you are required to fill that out if you are 18 and older. Luckily, I’m 16 at the moment, so that hasn’t affected anything.  _ Wait. What even IS Light’s age?  _ I shake the question from my head before I get curious. 

Based on her personality, she’s most likely to get an offensive role like I did, rather than a defensive one, maybe a Frontliner, like I am, or a Blacksmith. She  _ is  _ a curious type-

*Chime!* “*FORESTED_LIGHT*, you have been selected as an offensive/defensive Hacker position, otherwise known as a Switch Hacker. Happy playing!”

_ Oh god,  _ I panic as she turns to face me with a more-than-excited-smile.  _ How did she get one of the rarest roles in the game?! _


	9. Chapter 9

**C H A P T E R 8**

**A V I N A S H**

One thing’s for sure though, she isn’t a bot, which takes my fears of getting hacked away. What makes me nervous is the fact that she’s the first player that’s gotten the most rare role in the game, and the fact that she may be the only player who has gotten the role since it was announced two weeks ago.  _ Why do I feel so inadequate now? She probably doesn’t even know how to hack- _

“Yessss! Time to put my hacking skills to good use!” she exclaims.  _ Nevermind then.  _

A crowd begins to form around us, each player ogling her role. Their eyes dart to hers, then mine. Then, as if a dam just broke, they flood the space between us.  _ Oh god,  _ I realize,  _ they want to claim her for their teams.  _ The players push me back as I try to reach for her hand, making me stumble back.  _ Gotta try again.  _

I haven’t friended her yet, so I can’t talk to her, or even ask her to be a part of my team. If she’s smart enough though, hopefully she won’t accept any friend requests. She looks like the smart type though, given that she got the hacker role, meaning you’ve at least got to be an INTP for that to happen. 

I’m about to push myself into the crowd, when the three sections of the wall strobe twice, then open up fully into screens showing gameplay for the options of the first round. This seems to distract the crowd enough for me to run in there and grab her arm.

“Hey-” Light jolts at the yank of my arm, but I clamp my hand over her mouth and drag her to a Voting Wall for Clockwork Control.  _ This is literally the fourth time I’ve dragged her somewhere today, no wonder she’s grumpy. _

I’m still holding her hand when I slam my hand down on the vote button, then I look back at her.

She’s scowling.  _ Not a good sign.  _

“What was that?!” she whisper-yells. “I totally would have handled my own back there, before you decided to drag me away!” 

“Jeez… you’ve sure got a big ego even if you just got mobbed back there. Anyways, I’m gonna need you to friend me.” I counter

“What, why? Is this about the ‘hurr durr we need to make a team before I get mobbed again' type thing? ” she snarks.

“Rude… but yes, you need to friend me so we can make a team and beat the first game, which…” I look at the screen to see the amount of votes ‘Clockwork Control’ is getting, “...is a partnership game.”

“Oookay gamers! Here is the result for the first round!” Lunar-Moon blares into the voice channel.  _ Is her throat ever gonna get sore from all that screeching? Nevermind that.  _

I tap Light on the shoulder, bringing up her player data. I hit ‘Send Friend/Team Request.’ She whips her head to look at me with an annoyed expression as the dialog box pops into view. She takes a few seconds to read it, and hits ‘Accept.’  _ Yes. _

“The game that won is…’Clockwork Control’! In just 30 seconds, we’re gonna start the match!” 

The players that voted for ‘Avalanche Anarchy’ and ‘Waves of Panic’ murmur in disappointment, while people who voted for Clockwork Control rejoice.

“How  _ do _ you play Clockwork Control exactly?” Light quips.

“Well,” I start, “All the teams are placed inside a giant clock-like contraption, with one person from a team on the edges of the clock. Their goal is to get to the center of the clock while avoiding revolving laser doors. The person already in the center of the clock has to battle others for control over the revolving doors.” 

“Yep, got it, also, what’s my role about? I saw that I got a bump in my social standing and became that popular kid.” she replies.

“So your role only applies to battle levels, which will be those 2v2 battles coming up later.” I explain, keeping an eye on the timer.  _ 5 seconds to go.  _

“Hope you got that all down, yeah? Chances are you may be the one running to get to the center-”

“Alrighty folks, its time for the games to begin! Spawning y’all into the arena in three...two...one!” Lunar-Moon counts down.

Then the world around me pixelates and fades. Time for the main attraction to start.


	10. Chapter 10

**C H A P T E R 9**

**A V I N A S H**

As soon as I spawn in, I get memories of the first time I played this test. This was the game my team got eliminated in, where I was the Controller, and Scott was the Runner. I failed the FLT so many times to the point that Scott got tired of being my partner and partnered up with someone else.

I survey my surroundings. I know I’m a Controller now, thanks to the bluish-silver battle stadium I’m in. Two players spawn in, hovering above orange spawn circles like I am.

I raise an arm and click on my inventory, then equip the highest powered weapon I have, which is a black scythe with orange flames, only on level 7. 

Four others join and I come to a realization.  _ Oh crap, Light probably hasn’t battled before, much less played anyways. She doesn’t even have any gear!  _ I make a mental note to trade with her if we win this round.

Suddenly, all the walls start blinking, then turn transparent.

“Welcome to Clockwork Control everyone! The objective of this minigame is to get your partner to the middle of the clock as laser doors rotate at a high speed. For this game, teams of 3 will have 2 inside the center, and teams of 4 will have 2 inside the center, leaving the rest to run.” Lunar-Moon announces as the rest of the players spawn in.

As she keeps on talking, I focus on my strategy.  _ Right now, all of us are at an equal distance from the control room. Since everyone will probably be going for the controls, like I’ve seen in previous games, the safest strategy would be to wait while everyone fights, then knock them out inconspicuously.  _ I shift my gaze to the windows, where I can get a view of where Light is.  _ Right there!  _ In the second window, I see her surveying the map. I open up my private chat with her and type a message.

**Scorching_Blaze:** Yo, as soon as the round starts, I'm gonna need u to wait bcuz the lazer doors switch on at random intervals, and multiple people will be attempting to control it.

***FORESTED_LIGHT*:** Yea ik that already, how long will the match last?

**Scorching_Blaze:** The teams that make it to the center before 5 minutes win the match and get to play the second top voted game 

***FORESTED_LIGHT*:** thx

I close the chat window just as Lunar-Moon finishes talking. 

“‘Kay! Now that I’m done explaining, the battle will begin in 3…”

I look at the window that shows my team partner.  _ I better not lose this time… _

“2!”

My eyes dart to the control panel, then to scan the entire map.  _ All relatively normal and no distinct change. _

“...1! Let the FLT begin!!”

The spawn circles deactivate, dropping us to the ground and the laser doors switch on, and start rotating. Before I can even blink an eye, there are already four players charging for the control panel, eight players including me staying behind.  _ Reverse psychology, must’ve had the same idea as I had.  _

I look through the windows, where Light has already started to traverse the clock.  _ NO. YOU IDIOT, I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT! Arrrgh! She’s gonna make us lose!  _

I don’t have time to privately chat with her, so while the rest of us eight avoid the attacks and pray that their teammates have enough brain cells to stay put  _ (unlike mine of course)  _ I warily dodge the attacks coming from the control panel and make my way to the windows.

The doors are shifting clockwise, counterclockwise, and even stopping because of the control panel, while the lasers blink on and off at will. The clock’s shaped like a spiral, forcing you to be sandwiched between two of the laser doors as they rotate.

Already I see someone get vaporized by one of the doors and forced back to the beginning. Then I focus on Light. She’s running down the spiral, and dodging the doors like it's nothing.  _ Wow, for a newbie, she’s doing surprisingly well for herself.  _ I’m gazing at the game, when something on Light makes me stop.

_ Wait.  _ She has glitchy, void-like patches on her that make her look like she has wounds. And it's leaking in a way that resembles a certain bodily fluid.  _ Is that blood? _


	11. Chapter 11

**C H A P T E R 1 0**

**H I K A R I**

“Ssssss.” One of the doors swings by. _Phew, barely made it in time. Thanks Blaze._ Blaze is in the center of the clock, watching me from above. I can hear the sounds of battle inside. _How the heck are they fighting? Does my role have something to do with this?_ Then, I feel a sharp pain on my hands.

 _Ow. Ow. Ow!_ I take a look at my hands while running. A glitchy, gray liquid is leaking from my palms, where I nearly got hit by the door. _Is that blood? Does the blood look like this in-game?_ I swivel my head to the dome above, where Blaze is looking on with an equally confused look. _Weird._ Wiping my hands on my pants, I swing my head back just as the person in front of me gets hit by running face-first into a door. Then it deactivates. Adrenaline rising, I pump my legs to get me past the door. They’ve started to spin faster after five people got sent back to the beginning. Suddenly, a white and gold swirled orb spawns in my face and I stumble back. 

“Spawning power-ups now.” A mechanical voice booms.

 _So that’s what it is._ I reach out and touch the orb. It unravels into a white mist that travels and stays at my back. I turn my head in the direction of the mist. It makes one, no two wings on my back. 

“Activating power ups: Angel Wings!” 

_Angel wings!? Can I fly?_ I don’t need to answer that question as I suddenly rise up, up, up into the air. A cyan timer with thirty seconds appears in my peripheral vision. It starts ticking. I tilt left towards the dome in the center and instantly speed in that direction.

”BANG!” I hear a loud crash and turn my head. _Blaze?!_

* * * * *

**A V I N A S H**

I fall forward and hit my head on the window. Hard. _Ow._ Clutching my head, I whip my head around to find the person who attacked me. 

“What? Scared of fighting? I promise not to go too hard on noobs like you!” the attacker taunts. She’s holding a ball of crackling lightning, which she probably used to hit me. _Okay, that settles it, I’m attacking her._

“You were one of the four that went to the control panel at first, which automatically made you a newbie yourself!” I fire back.

“You think you’re hot stuff huh? Then let’s see what you’ve got!” she challenges.

She launches at me at full speed and aims a kick at my waist. I dodge just in time and the kick hits the window. I look at her gamer tag and health bar hovering over her head. Miss-Mango4, with a health gauge of 20%. _Being in the middle must’ve severely chipped at her health._

I swerve and dip back into the center of the dome. If I wanted to hide, my hair would give me away, so when she suffers the rebound to the kick that hit the wall, I use the opportunity to my advantage.

I raise my right leg, and sweep kick her by the ankles. She stumbles, if only for a second. It hasn’t seemed to affect her health bar yet. She glances over her shoulder and her mouth twists into a smirk.

“I’ve got you now!” she grunts as she charges up an attack. It's only been twenty seconds since she hit me with that bolt of lightning, and in ten, she’s gonna have access to her powers again. _I’m pretty unstable when it comes to using fire powers, but it should work long enough, I mean, she’s down to 18% now, how hard should it be?_

I click the X button on my left controller and hold on to the T button on my right to charge up a beam of fire. I raise my right hand and aim it at her at the same time she holds up her’s. I shoot.


	12. Chapter 12

**C H A P T E R 1 1**

**A V I N A S H**

I aim the fire beam at her head as it starts erupting rapidly from my hand at the same time she aims it at my feet. I leap over a bolt of lightning and it crackles against the marble floor. I tap the B button to pause the attack and start sprinting to the other side of the dome.  _ Hopefully she gets someone else on her way to me.  _

In the corner of my vision, I see Miss-Mango4 knock someone out with her lightning. It crackles and engulfs their entire body before disappearing in a flash of white.

“dusk/dawn789 and GiveMidoriTheSacrificeCard have been eliminated. Twelve players left!” Lunar-Moon announces.

I’m about to fire at Miss-Mango again when I pause.  _ Wait, what? You can get eliminated as the controller now? I didn’t know that!  _ I pull up my player stats. 

**Scorching_Blaze: Level 9 | Elemental Class: Fire | Health: 60%**

_ Now that I have the chance of dying, I guess I have to do my part if me and her want to win.  _

Right in the corner of my eye, I see Light gliding her way to me, for about five seconds before the power-up disables, and she disappears into the clock below. I slink against the wall to get to the window so I can know that she’s landed safely. 

“Attention, starting now, weapons are enabled as most people are reaching the center!” Mrs. I-can’t-stop-screaming-for-the-love-of-god announces. 

And, just as I expected, an uproar of chaos starts, with people pulling spears, swords, tridents, shurikens and more on each other.  _ Six players left here.  _ I pull out my scythe, at level 7, and pray that it's good enough to beat the other weapons here. 

* * * * *

**H I K A R I**

I'm falling. Fast. The doors have started moving at a faster rate, and my wings have been disabled. Blaze is fighting another player inside, and two people have been eliminated. So far, I’m the closest to the center with only one more spiral of doors to go.

I flip so that my hands are facing the floor when I land, just like in the Cell Tower, and lock my landing.

I hit the floor, and use the momentum from the landing to flip and get up. There are more doors here than the first ring, so I have to move quickly.

I start running and inspect my throbbing palms, with scrapes all over them and that same gray liquid leaking all over my palms.  _ Again? Seriously, what is this? _

I run through a deactivated door and crane my neck to look at the center dome.  _ Weird.  _ They didn’t have weapons before.  _ Must’ve missed an announcement as I was falling.  _

After passing through another door, I make it. I step onto the silver safety zone.  _ Wait, didn’t I just have to make it to the center? Maybe I need to go inside, but how?  _ Just as I think about it, a door slides open and I walk in. The door immediately slides close as I take the first step.  _ Well, there’s no turning back I guess. _

I walk six paces before I nearly trip.  _ What is this?  _ I squint in the darkness.  _ A...staircase?  _ I start climbing up.

The sounds of metal hitting metal, beams of fire, and water eventually start filling the hollow stairway. I finally reach the top and the door slides open. An awkward silence, followed by 6 players staring at me.

“*FORESTED_LIGHT* has entered the dome. Remember, you must make physical contact with your partner in order to win the round!” Lunar-Moon announces.

“Wait! This wasn’t in the rules!” Blaze shouts.

“They recently updated them, I thought everyone was aware of that.” a player named FlowerShower2970 quips.

“Well then. I’ll see you all at the winner’s circle!” Blaze taunts.  _ Not a good idea my dude. _

“Not if we get to her first!” Miss-Mango4, the player who I recognize as Blaze’s attacker, shouts.

And just like in the lobby, everyone swarms towards me.


	13. Chapter 13

**C H A P T E R 1 2**

**H I K A R I**

The crowd starts rushing at once, and I fake left, and start rushing right to the control panel.  _ I clearly can’t beat these guys, so how about if I eliminate their partners?  _ Blaze fends them off as I make it. I start fiddling with the joysticks just as a player finds out I’ve made it to the control panels. I peer over my shoulder and smirk just as they pixelate. I turn my head back to the panel. 

“-answertothepirateking- and Shoot_Me_DAY6 have been eliminated, and Spear~Gungnir is on their last life! Ten players left.”

I push one of the joysticks forward, taking one life away from a player.

“Light! Take my hand!” I whip my head around. Running towards me with the remaining four players on his heels, Blaze extends his hand to me.  _ The rules! I have to make contact with him! _

Immediately, I reach for him, and our fingers make contact. Nothing.

“Wait...what? Didn’t that dude touch you? Why didn’t you guys disappear?” Lunar-Moon questions.

The players stop moving in disbelief.

“Okay, I’ll try to force stop the game so I can get you two out. You’ll still spawn into the same server.” 

“What about the person with the blue and purple hair? They look like a friggin’ virus! And literally glitching everywhere.” <seasalty> accuses.

I look down at myself.  _ God, I really do look like a virus!  _ The glitching liquid leaks a bit from my charred palms, staining my clothes. The end result makes me look like a glitch in the Matrix.

“Hey, is there supposed to be blood in this…?” I start, but their confused and scared looks tell me all I need to know.

“I-I can explain! She did the rolescan and passed!” Blaze interjects.

“Oh really? Then what did you get?” Miss-Mango4 questions.

“ESTP-A Switch Hacker.” I respond.

“Ohhh! You’re the one who everyone was all over in the lobby!” FlowerShower2970 remarks.

Lunar-Moon stopped the doors and the timer, freezing the remaining players, who’ve craned their necks to peer inside the dome.

“There! I’m spawning you guys in the lobby again! And to the remaining players, if you don’t get your partner to the center before time runs out, you're eliminated!” Lunar-Moon announces. 

And the world around us starts pixelating again.

* * * * *

I place my feet down on the cyan spawn circle and look around. The section of the wall used for voting for Clockwork Control has retracted, and the new players stand a screen, watching the action. Blaze spawns next to me and walks up to me.

“What happened back there?” he questions.

“I...don’t know honestly. Remember when we met? I said I opened a box that sucked me into this game, so that could be part of it. I’m not logged in like a regular user.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Can you describe the box to me? Maybe I can look it up.”

“Okay, um...it was black with rainbow gemstones on it, and inside was a small silver pole with black swirls on it.”

“I’ll see what I can find.”

“Okay everyone! There has been a bug in the system and unfortunately, the server is shutting down for the day. The FLT will continue tomorrow, so unless you don’t want the players up for ransom, I suggest you save the game here so when we get the game up and running, you’ll spawn here. Have a wonderful rest of your day!” Lunar-Moon announces.

A ripple of disappointed mutters, followed by the players in the dome staring at me.” 

“This hasn’t happened before. I’ll…see you tomorrow I guess?” Blaze says, unsure.

“Yeah, see you around.” I bring up my menu and hit save.

The lights start fading to black, and one by one, the players disappear, even the ones up for ransom, until it’s me, Rey, and Lunar-Moon, who promptly logs out herself. 

And we’re left alone.


	14. Chapter 14

**C H A P T E R 1 3**

**R E Y**

The screens have gone dark and I’m left alone in this cage. The same void-like darkness that I encountered in the place that I came to surrounds me now. From what I heard, a glitch caused the server to malfunction, and it was shut down.  _ Most likely Hikari’s doing.  _ She had this strange liquid dripping from her as she played the round.  _ Is there any way to contact her? Is she even in the server anymore?  _

I stand up and walk towards the edge. My hands touch the cool metal of the bars and I close my hands around them. Somehow, some way, we’re getting out of this. _ I need normalcy in my life. Adventures can be saved for the characters in the stories that I write, not in real life.  _

Just then, I hear a sharp clack. Icy blue light colors my peripheral vision.  _ What was that?  _ By now, I know to expect anything from this game, and the dangers too.

“Why is it so dark in here? Did the server shut down or something?” a low, smooth voice questions.

I turn so quickly I nearly trip on my own two feet. _ There.  _ Although the darkness makes it hard to see, I can see their silhouette standing in the middle of the cage. I don’t move a muscle. 

“Okay first off, don’t even bother hiding, I can see you.”  _ Eep. They noticed me.  _

“Okay...f-fine, I won’t hide.” I stammer.  _ Why can’t I sound more confident?!  _

“It’s fine, I won’t hurt you. In fact,” they say, pulling out a familiar pole and box. “I’ve come here to help you.” 

* * * * *

**H I K A R I**

I can’t get a hold on Ray. No matter what I try to do, my menu won’t come up. I thought my hacking role would come into play here, but nothing’s working. Maybe that was part of the effect of the lobby shutting down. The game seems to function like an RPG in the sense that you save your point, and the mentions of this first level. 

_ What do the other levels look like?  _ I ponder as I swing my legs from the suspended platform I’ve decided would be a good place to sleep, that is, if I need to.  _ Do I have an energy or health stat?  _ I try opening my menu again. Nothing. 

_ What time is it even?  _ We opened the box at around 4:30, and arrived here, and within 5 minutes the FLT started. From there, Clockwork Control took about 15 minutes before the game ended. I’ve been here for about two hours now. Granted, there probably must’ve been some time that passed while I was unconscious, but it should be around 7:50 right now. 

_ This is the time when we normally get ushered back to our cells.  _ So much has happened today to the point where it feels like it was just yesterday we were in the Cell Tower. 

Suddenly, a sharp pain strikes my wrist.

“Argh!” 

The pain in my wrist vanishes just as quickly as it came.  _ Was that my chip?  _ I glance down at my hand. The silvery blood gushing from the burn on my palms has stopped, though still sore.  _ There.  _

My chip has started vibrating, which I’ve never seen happen before, and is lighting up the veins in my wrist with a blue, eerie glow.  _ Where even is the box right now? Are we even in the box? _

With my questions still unanswered, and boredom filling me, I decide to head to sleep. I lower myself carefully onto the platform and rest my cheek against the cool metal.  _ No matter what happens, we are escaping, and never going back to the Cell Tower ever again.  _


	15. Chapter 15

**C H A P T E R 1 4**

**R E Y**

“What do you mean by that?” I question. 

They silently start stepping towards me, pole and box in hand. 

“I’m going to help you get out of here. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“Yeah, I k-know what you’re saying, but how? What d-did that box do to us?” With the way they’re acting, they probably know our situation.

 _They’re too close._ Then suddenly, memories of this afternoon come flooding back, details so perfect it’s like I was there at that moment.

“Aghhh!” I collapse, hands pressed against my head. _Whycan’tIthinkstraight-_

Suddenly, I hear the sound of something dropping and when I open my eyes, I see them crouched in front of me, a look of worry projected onto their face.

“Are you okay?” the coldness that was in their tone before drops. They place a hand on my forehead.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m okay, nothing to worry about.” I can feel their palm on my hand, almost like it was real.

“You can feel my hand, huh?”

“Is that normal?”

“Well, no, not unless the box has converted you into a SkyWorld avatar.”

“It what?!”

“Well, looks like you’ve calmed down, so let me explain it to you.”

He holds the pole up to a viewing level.

“This is designed to take matter in. Once it has that matter, you place it into the box, and it designates each atom to a pixel, creating a virtual avatar of yourself.”

“Sounds like stuff Hikari would _love_ to hear about, you know, if she could hear me right now.”

“That friend of yours… is she here too?”

“Yeah.”

“So here’s the plan, starting tomorrow, I’m going to help your friend win the game so you guys can be together again, then, I will get another converter to get your friend back as well.”

“Okay, but why are you helping me? Are you against Cho too?”

“Well, you could say that-”

“I need a definite answer”

“Yes”

“Okay, good enough for me.”

* * * * *

**A V I N A S H N O V . 1 1 , 2 0 5 7**

**8 : 0 4 A M**

I wake up in the middle of a road, the pavement cutting my cheek. _Where the heck am I?_ I stumble to my feet and look around. A familiar neighborhood. _Oh god, not again_ . As the smell of gasoline and smoke begin to fill the street, I whip my head back and start running down the street, something I’ve gotten used to. _Why does this keep happening!?_ I run and run, as every house on the block catches on fire. I can hear the screams of children, mothers, fathers as they burn inside their houses. No one can escape. _Mustgetoutmustgetoutmustgetout-_

I sit up with a jolt. _Great. Pyrophobia. What a pleasant way to start the day._ I step out of bed, and gaze out the window to clear my head. Electric cars, along with the occasional bus or taxi fill the road. Saturday mornings are always busy, with the break from work and school. I sigh, and walk towards the bathroom.

 _Again? Why does this dream love to torment me?_ I’ve been having that dream since I was a kid, probably one of the contributing factors to my fear of fire. As I brush my teeth, the events of yesterday come crashing back. _Wait, didn’t Light tell me to look into that box she described? Maybe my friends have info on him._

After I take a shower, I rush downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. The kitchen is silent. My parents are probably attending another one of Cho’s impromptu meetings. My parents work as some of Cho’s personal advisors and are probably one of the most influential people in Halo City. At least, that’s how I see it. 

I pick up the plate of fried idlis they left me, get a fork, and walk to the InterSynk room. The room is exactly how I left it last night, with my VR headset slung over the desk chair and my PC powered off. I click the power button and boot up the computer, while I place my idlis on top of the desk. _She said it was black, with gemstones on it, right?_

I log onto Synkchat and type to my online friend who’s a hacker; Mac.

 **Scorching_Blaze:** Hey

 **TheBurrower:** Hey

 **Scroching_Blaze:** I need ur help with something

 **TheBurrower:** What

 **Scorching_Blaze:** Can u help me find this object, one of my friends playing with me in SkyWorld were talking about something she wanted me to find.

 **TheBurrower:** How do u know that its a girl, stop assuming people’s genders

 **Scorching_Blaze:** Yea sorry

 **TheBurrower:** Lol its fine, so can u describe the object(s)

 **Scorching_Blaze:** It was a black box with rainbow gemstones and a pole with black swirls

 **TheBurrower:** …

 **TheBurrower:** Who was this person?

 **Scorching_Blaze:** o. It was a feminine person who’s apparently really good at hacking. They said earlier that they got “transported into the game” with that box and it was shipped from a random Cell Kid in Chicago.

_TheBurrower has logged off._

_Huh? What was that about?_ Mac normally never leaves in the middle of a conversation, even when they’re hacking. Must be problems with connection.


	16. Chapter 16

**C H A P T E R 1 5**

**R E Y**

Surprisingly, even data needs some rest as well too. So that’s what I did. The person knew how to get to this specific server, and he explained to me that this game functions like an MMORPG with different levels that you have to take a test in order to pass. This is the first level apparently, which is what FLT stands for. And then he left. 

I’m guessing it's around 8 AM right now, with the server getting up and running again. I can see the lobby this time.  _ Is Hikari awake?  _ She lies there still.  _ Probably not, she’s always been an oversleeper. _

“Hey there!” At the sound of his voice, I jump back.

“You nearly scared me Snow!” 

“So my name’s Snow now? I’ll take it.”

I can see his facial features way better now, with cyan to white ombre hair and dark turquoise eyes. The icy blue aura around him has seemed to fade since we’re in the light now.  _ Despite how sucky this game is, I can’t deny how amazing the character customization features are- _

“Umm… Earth to Rey? Should I call you that?”

“Gah! Did I zone out again?” I squeak in surprise.

“Yeah. You seem to be doing that a lot. Wonder if it's a side effect from the converter…”

“Speaking of… did you manage to get a hold on the converter thingy that’s supposed to get Hikari and I back.”

Silence.  _ That’s odd. Did I provoke him or something? _

“Hey, I think you’re the one daydreaming here, or are you hiding something from me?” 

“Hm? Oh, sorry, just had a phone call, and no, I’m not hiding anything from you.”

_ Wow, a phone call. How long has it been since I had my hands on something other than a dropscreen? _

“Anyways, we still have until 6:00 PM until the FLT starts up again, so how about you get used to this game’s mechanics?” he continues.

“That sounds nice actually.” I reply.

“Now first off, not to sound harsh, but you look ugly, at least compared to the rest of the players here.”

“How rude!” I say with mock offense.

He chuckles.

“Since the server is back up and running, you just need to click on the orange button on the right-hand corner to change your appearance.”

“I’ll give it a go.”

* * * * *

“Aaaand...I think I’m done!” I shout.

“You look nice,” Snow says in turn.

My hair, now navy blue is up in space buns, and my blue eyes have changed into strobing cyan ones. Snow also had me pick out a power class, and I chose water. A navy blue pinafore and a sky blue turtleneck. Blue crystal teardrop earrings. Thigh high black socks and black boots.

“Though a bit plain if you ask me.”

“Well this is the best I can do. If only I had access to nice clothes like these in real life...” I muse.

“Yeah, I mean living in the Cell Tower probably restricts your sense of fashion.”

_ Wait.  _ I immediately back up a few paces.

“H-how do you know I’m imprisoned there?”

“Well, how do you think I found you?”

“S-so you must be someone from one of the Towers right? You don’t sound familiar, are you from the Meridian sector-”

“I promise you, all will be revealed in due time, okay?”

“Fine...but you have to stop scaring me like that. At least tell me where you’re getting this info!”

“I’ll tell you once we get out, and maybe then you’ll recognize me.”

“Do I...know you?”


	17. Chapter 17

**C H A P T E R 1 6** **4 : 5 6 P. M.**

**A V I N A S H**

Mac hasn’t responded ever since I contacted them this morning. It’s hard to believe they would have internet issues for this long. I tried searching up the box on Google Images (bad idea, I know) and got nothing. _They logged out when I mentioned the box and haven't responded to my messages about it. Wonder if it’s dangerous or something._

It’s almost 5:00 and the start of the FLT. I checked the forums and the devs said they had the server up and running again. My parents still haven’t come back from that meeting yet, probably doing something for the good of the country, unlike me.

_Whatever, it’s not like they let me know about what they’re doing anyways, which is understandable._

I sigh and slip the headset on. _Best not have these thoughts before I play the game._

The title screen pops up, and it's like I’m transported to another world. I go to my Notepad, where I find the last bookmarked server I’ve recorded. _Time to finally win this thing._

I drop from midair onto the cyan spawn circle. _Where is Light? Shoot! Forgot to tell her when the FLT starts-_

“Heyyy! Ya miss me?” _Ugh, she’s here, and ready to start causing chaos._

She’s waving wildly. Her palms have scabbed over, but still retain the weird glitch effect from yesterday.

“Hey, stop staring at my palms. Are they really that bad?” 

“They are. By the way, do they actually hurt?”

“Nope, not at all!” she says as she winces in pain.

“Doubt it.”

I walk over to the ransom screen. _Yep, same players from yesterday._

“Sooo… did you look into the box?” Light asks.

“Well, I guess you can say I did…”

“What do you mean ‘you guess’? What happened?”

“Umm… I contacted my friend and asked them to find out what it was, but they just...disconnected.”

“Sounds like that doesn’t happen often. Why do you think they did that?”

“I don’t know, maybe it's dangerous? They’re always trying to watch out for my safety.”

“Yeah…” she trails off.

Yesterday’s player’s enter the lobby, and immediately, their eyes go to Light.

“Wait. Aren’t you those guys who glitched the game yesterday?” <seasalty> questions.

“For your information, we have no idea what’s going on ourselves so quit accusing us.” Light retorts

“Oh for the love of god, you look like a virus yourself! You even have the same patches from yesterday.” they fire back.

“EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!” Lunar-Moon screams. _You’d at least think they’d get a new moderator, but apparently not._

“Okay, because of the interruptions from yesterday’s game, we are picking up where we left off. Onto the second round!”

The second wall retracts, leaving Avalanche Anarchy as our next game.

“Okay, Avalanche Anarchy is the winner! Let’s explain the rules.”

“All the members of your team have to make it up the mountain while avoiding chunks of snow. If you fall too far, you lose! 5 teams remain, so the bottom two will be eliminated. The game will start in a minute, so get ready!”

The eight other players immediately start buzzing and talking strategy. I turn to face Light, who’s looking at the board with an anxious expression on her face.

“Are you okay? You seem a bit scared.” I start, unsure what to say.

“Yeah, I mean, being trapped inside a video game is fun and all, but it’s also nerve racking, knowing I can take damage and whatnot. Who knows? I may even die.”

I didn’t notice it before but her attitude is more somber compared to yesterday, maybe realizing the fact that she may not make it out alive. _I hope she doesn’t die._

I immediately clear out the thought from my head. _Shouldn’t be caring for random strangers on the internet._ _Wait, that reminds me._

“Hey, did you pick a power class?” I question, getting ready for her to bombard me with questions.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m Light class. Kinda fitting, huh?”

“Great.”

“30 seconds!” Lunar-Moon announces.

“So...” I start, trying to make small talk.

“How did you spend the night?”

“I just slept on that platform over there. Oh, and bought a couple things to eat too.” she says while pointing. 

_What? This can’t be real._

“You a-actually spent the night in the game?” I sputter, shocked.

“Yeah.”

“SPAWNING PLAYERS INTO THE ARENA!” the chipper mod screams, as the world fades to black.


	18. Chapter 18

**C H A P T E R 1 7**

**H I K A R I**

I realized something yesterday. Just because I win these games doesn’t mean I’ll be out. Why? Well, that’s because I spent the entire night on SkyWorld’s forums. That, and hacking too. I learned that all the players are assigned an ID, with their personality type first and actual name. For example, my ID would be: ESTP-A HikariMorimoto. However, looking at the server list, I couldn’t find neither mine nor Rey’s ID. I did manage to find Blaze's name and ID though, ISFJ-T AvinashGrandhi. 

Anyways, this game has probably one of the highest security measures I’ve seen (though I haven’t tried hacking into a corporation's records before). That’s why I’ve contacted someone to do the legwork for me, someone named [wellaren’tyouaspecialsnowflake]. Rumor has it that he is one of Cho’s assistants, but he has no connection to that pile of garbage as far as I can see. I’m awaiting the results of his dig, but I don’t think those results are going to be anything worth celebrating over.

I stand on a snowy ledge with other players, including Blaze- no, Avinash. The game has yet to start, as I survey the landscape.

“Okay everyone, in five seconds, the snow will start falling. Remember, the objective is to be one of the first ones at the top.”

“Five!”

“So what’s our strategy? You heard the rules, right?” Avinash brings his voice down to a whisper, as the other players talk out loud.

“I have no clue. Maybe it's to just avoid conflict and stay in the corner of the mountain.” I respond.

“Four!”

“And what do we do when we attack? Hm? See? You don’t even know how to use your abil-” I make a disc out of Javascript drawing commands and fire it at his face.

“Three!”

“I know a LOT more than you think, Avinash Grandhi.”

With that, the color drains out of his face.  _ Perfect. _

“Two! Annnnd BEGIN!”

With that, huge, heavy chunks of snow begin to fall from the top of the mountain, as the other players start climbing.

“C’mon! Pick up the pace!” 

“H-how the hell did you know my name!?” he sputters as he starts to climb.

“Language, kid.” I snark as I leap over a rock.

The snow chunks keep falling, and as the surface begins to decrease, <seasalty> gets hit by a snow chunk, and is sent toppling halfway down the mountain.

“Mark!” his partner yells as he falls.

_ Hmph, serves that trashcan right. _

“You still haven’t answered my question.” 

I whip my head around to face Avinash.

“Fine, fine, I did some digging in the files of the game and found your name. I still wonder why they’d display data like that so publicly.” I reply.

“Okay...that sounds reasonable, I guess.”

“Mhm! It's not like I hacked you or anything.”

“At least just tell me your name.”

“Fine. Hikari. Hikari Mori-”

“OKAYYY~ Since most of you are halfway up the mountain, how ‘bout we spice up things a little bit. Passive skills are now unlocked!”

_ That means I can use my coding abilities now!  _

At once, I open my keyboard, and type the following: rect (101, 21, 195, 156); as a chunk of snow heads towards me.  _ Here it comes! _

And then, it suddenly veers left, towards Miss-Mango_4, sending her sliding back to the beginning, and then disappearing in a puff of white.

Both of us come to a skidding halt and gape in disbelief.

“Did that just...avoid us?”


	19. Chapter 19

**C H A P T E R 1 8**

**A V I N A S H**

“Did that...just avoid us?”

“Looks like it.” I respond, unsure of what just happened.

“Whatever, let’s just keep climbing-” just as I say that, the ground caves underneath us with a blast.

“WAAAGH!” 

We both collapse in a heap on top of each other, the land we were standing on turned into a glacial crater. I turn my head up to spot the attacker.

“Sorry!” FlowerShower2970, who’s an Alchemist apparently, squeaks.

“Hey!” Hikari types in a line of code, and immediately raises the y position of the crater.

“Get back here!” she breaks into a sprint, and I struggle to catch up to her.

FlowerShower is up ahead of us, jumping over another crater, and I equip my fire scythe.  _ Hopefully the landscape can realistically be altered.  _ I dip my scythe into a pile of snow and it immediately melts into water.  _ Perfect. _

“CRACK!” At the top of the mountain, a new chunk of snow breaks off and barrels through some trees. Hikari notices this too, and nudges me.

“Hey, I wanna test something.”

“If it involves us falling, I’m pushing you off the mountain.”

“Well, it kinda does.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“Fine, then what’s this plan, oh-great-sage-of-wisdom?”

“I want you to get in the way of that ice block and purposely get hit.”

“I knew it. Is it ‘cause of what happened earlier?”

“Mhm! If the snow block avoids us again, then we know for certain that someone’s manipulating the game so we can make it to the top. It may also be the same person that got Rey and I stuck here.”

“That...actually sounds reasonable for once?”

“Hey, since when was  _ I  _ ever unreasonable?”

_ Really? _

“Okay...I’ll block the ice chunk with my scythe if anything happens.”

“Sounds good!”

“Attention everyone! HajimeXOJIsOTP and SophieGrandHighWitchUltimate have made it to the top! Four teams remain!”

_ We better be quick. _

I pump my legs harder, as Hikari stays behind.

“I’ll try to increase your player speed right now.” she yells over the roar of the snow as we separate.

The snow chunk is getting closer, with FlowerShower unsuspectingly heading towards it. I’m tailing them now, and I take out my scythe to prepare to attack them.

I swing.

“Gaaahh!” 

My blade hits them squarely in the back, scorching the strap of their Alchemist pouch, the potions and chemicals spilling out. I scoop up some of the essentials before they fall to their feet and scramble to grab the bottles.

“Give those back! I need them!”

“Sorry, but no.”

I start running again, and purposely go slower so they can catch up. The roar of the avalanche is getting louder. I pull out my scythe again, poised to defend myself right when it approaches. And then it happens.

Just as I strike at the incoming snow, it veers right, and sends FlowerShower2970 careening off the mountain.

I stand there, letting the adrenaline and fatigue wash over me as Hikari sprints in my direction. Obviously, I’m not actually that tired, but the game stimulates your senses in a way that makes it feel like you were in that moment.

“Avinash...that...was...amazing! Hikari pants as she makes it over.

“That really was.” I reply.

“It went sliding!”

“Yeah.”

_ Wait. _

“Doesn’t that mean someone’s manipulating the game for us to win?”

Instantly, the grin wipes right off her face.

“You’re right.”

“<seasalty> and whitewind have made it to the top! Only one spot left!”

_ Crap.  _ The same resolution has occurred to Hikari as her expression turns somber. She faces the mountain and charges at once

“We have to make it up! Let’s go!”

I follow.  _ Maybe she’s not so bad after all. _

* * * * *

**? ? ?**

_ Why are they going straight into the snow? Have I been too obvious? _ I ponder, as I sit next to Rey. She’s watching the conflict, her interest piqued just enough that she doesn’t notice what I’m doing. I think she’s warmed up to me, still not fully trusting, but she would willingly go anywhere with me. 

_ God, I actually sound evil right now.  _

Mom still hasn’t picked up on my modding of the server just yet, and her god-awful moderator hasn’t found any traces either.

_ Just wait. Just you wait. One day, your son will be the thing that destroys you. _


	20. Chapter 20

**C H A P T E R 1 9**

**H I K A R I**

The bad news: There’s only one spot left. 

The good news: We’re immune to the avalanche, so all we need to worry about is PvP.

It’s a mad dash for third place, and the other teams are on our tail. I increased our player speed and we’re near the summit, about a few more meters ahead.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzes past me and grazes Avinash’s cheek. The blood in this game is non-existent, so instead of a scratch, his character flashes red and his health bar decreases. I look over my shoulder.

_ Great. Looks like Miss-Mango_4’s a frontliner. _

“Start running! We can’t waste any time with conflict!” Avinash whispers.

So we do just that, barreling through trees and leaping over rocks and sticks. Spells, potions, and weapons go flying in the air, aimed at us.

_ Think, think, think Hikari! What can I do to get to the top the fastest? _ I pull out my hovering keyboard, and instantly, the commands click in my head.

I groan and slap my head.  _ Why didn’t I think of this before!? _

I tap Avinash’s shoulder and pull him behind a boulder stuck in the ground. He flinches, before realizing what I’m doing.

“Stop scaring me like that! Do you have a death wish?”

“Nah, but I have another plan.”

He pauses to consider, and then responds.

“I’m all ears, so what is it?”

_ That’s different. Well then. _

“Animation.”

“Meaning?” he trails off, confused.

“Let me show you.”

I open my keyboard and create a circle big enough for us to stand on.

“That’s your big plan?” he scoffs.

“But wait, there’s more! Get on if you don’t want to die.”

“Fine.”

He stomps on, being obnoxiously loud. I raise the y-position of the circle up and above the trees.

“There they are!” a voice I don’t recognize shouts, but I’m too focused on aiming the circle.

“I hope you don’t have motion sickness or a fear of heights, ‘cause here we go. Hang on tight!” I say.

I type in x = x + 50, and the circle goes speeding.

I sink into a crouch, the wind whipping my hair in different directions while almost snuffing out Avinash’s.

We finally reach the summit, the other teams long gone. I change the rate of speed by deleting the command, bringing the circle to an abrupt stop. The halt nearly sends Avinash crashing to the ground.

He hops off the circle and extends a shaking hand below. I take it and jump off.

We run to the white glow that is the finish line and nearly collapse in exhaustion crossing out. 

As everything fades to black, I hear Lunar-Moon announce us as third place.

* * * * *

I open my eyes to the lobby. Avinash’s slumped over a sofa and others are looking at us, and the usual sneer on <seasalty>’s face is nonexistent, replaced by a look of respect and... _ admiration? _

“Dude, that was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone use the role before!” SophieGrandHighWitchUltimate remarks.

“Thanks! I literally came up with it on the fly, I’m new to the game.” I respond.

“Yeah...for a noob, you’re actually not half-bad.” <seasalty> admits.

“Thanks everyone, good luck on the last round!”

I walk over to Avinash, who’s shifted his gaze to mine.

“Enjoying all the praise?” he mutters.

“Heck yeah!”

“Mmm. You deserve it though.” Avinash slurs, before he realizes what he just said and turns red.

“Oooh! Look who’s learned to be a nice guy!” I snark, avoiding his hook punch.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Shouldn’t we be lookin’ for that guy who’s been manipulating the snow?”

_ Oh, right. _

“Yeah. It’s either that he’s an external force or an actual player in the server. But I don’t remember the people in the server from yesterday…” I muse, opening the list of players.

“Maybe check the server logs. It  _ did _ crash yesterday, so there should be a list of players present when it occurred.”

“Good idea. I’m gonna check.”

I tap the upper right corner to get the server list, and at the same time, pull up yesterday’s crash notice. I scan the list of players.  _ Looks like everyone’s here.  _ I shift my eyes to the current player list.  _ Wait. There’s one more person that’s not on the log.  _

The last name floating in the right hand side of the screen: [wellaren’tyouaspecialsnowflake].


	21. Chapter 21

**C H A P T E R 2 0**

**H I K A R I**

_ Wait. Isn’t that the dude who I asked to hack into the servers? _

“Umm, is there anyone you know there?”

“Kind of.”

_ Why is he watching me? Is he watching Avinash? I have to find out. _

“Hey Avinash, is there a live feed of what’s going on with the players chosen for ransom?”

“Yeah, just click on the eye icon on the side bar, it should tell you that you can spectate there. This is about your friend, yeah?”

“Kind of.” I repeat.

“Give me a direct answer! I can help you, if you want.”

I turn my head towards him.  _ Oh god. He’s completely serious. _

“Fine, fine, if you want to have a higher chance of not surviving by the time you get to 18, I guess you can help me.”

He rolls his eyes, and mutters something incoherent under his breath.

I click on the blue eye, and it shows me the lobby, or rather, an overhead view of it. An orange rectangle with white arrows shows me what I’m viewing. I click once, twice, and finally, the ransom place.

Everyone is seated in a black steel cage, screens all around showcasing the lobby and leaderboard.  _ Wonder what this room looks like in the middle of a game. _

I scan the faces in the room. There’s no sign of her. Then suddenly, one face in particular stands out to me.

_ Wait. There is NO way in the high heavens that’s her! _ Looks like Rey got a glow up while I was battling my butt off.  _ Who’s that sitting next to her?  _ It looks like they know her, based off of the body language. I zero in on the face and realize. 

_ Crap! That’s him! I need to find out why he’s helping us. _

I turn to the cameras and start waving animatedly. 

“What, you think since that round you have a bunch of fans?” Avinash snarks.

I give him a death glare, which seems to silence him. I click on the eye again, and  _ there we go!  _ a little wave from Rey! 

_ Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here as fast as possible!  _ I mouth.

She gives me a thumbs up.

_ She acknowledges my existence!  _

I click off the eye.

“Hey, I think we found him.”

* * * * *

**? ? ?**

“Avinash Grandhi and Hikari Morimoto are interacting again.” I report.

“Good, try to find out what they’re saying, and make sure they don’t try to plan anything.” Boss says.

“Additionally, Reyne Samida appears to have made a friend, though their ID is heavily encrypted.”

“Then send it to HQ- what?” they cut off.

“I-it can’t be. I think I found him!”

“You decrypted it that fast? And who is ‘he’?” I question.

“You know, my son.”

_ No way.  _

I zoom in on that player’s face. He bears a heavy resemblance to her.

“You’re right.”

“Yes. Pinpoint his location and send troops to come get him. Make sure he comes back unharmed, and you Lilith, monitor the servers and notify me if he tries anything rash.”

“Roger that.” I shut off the comm and sigh.  _ For a successor of Cho, he’s really reckless. We can’t rely on him. Stupid kid had me make an entire game from scratch to find a new successor.  _ I hear a chime from my laptop.

_ Well, time for the final round.  _ I take a sip of water and, in an unnaturally chipper voice, switch on my mic and make my announcement.

“Attention everyone! The final round of the FLT is starting soon! Be on your A-game!”


	22. Chapter 22

**C H A P T E R 2 1**

**A V I N A S H**

Lunar-Moon has made her announcement about the FLT, and I, for one, am tired. Way too much has happened today for me to process everything properly, as it often does when you spend time in VR.

I tap Hikari, who’s wrapped up in trying to find a way to contact that extra user on the list, on her shoulder. 

“Hey, I’m gonna remove my headset for a while, can you DM me once the tournament starts?”

“Sure, and do you know who’s not DM-able? IT’S THIS CRACKPOT RIGHT HERE.” she suddenly screeches, making me jump back. 

_ Oh my god. _ I look her over. Her hair has gotten noticeably disheveled, her eyes darting everywhere.

“H-hey, calm down! We just need to take a break, right?” I propose, hoping my words sound convincing enough.

“I CAN’T! My best friend and I are stuck in this game with no way out and you expect me to calm down!?”

“Well,” I start, unsure of how to continue. “I personally think stuff like this is best thought through non-stressful situations.”

“I guess.” she mumbles as she sinks her head down. I place a reassuring hand on her head.

“Speaking of, I need a break too. DM me when the PvP starts, okay?”

“I will.”

“Alright, see you in a bit.”

“Yeah.”

With that, I remove the headset and wipe my forehead. My eyes are blurry and it takes them a minute to adjust. I sling the goggles over my chair.

The InterSynk room is dim and the house is silent. I’m about to walk to the kitchen when something makes me stop. 

_ What’s this?  _ There’s a plate on the counter with a single green capsule and a tiny sticky note attached, covered in my dad’s lacy handwriting. I peel it off and read it.

“Dear Avinash, remember to take your medicine! We’ll be back by 8!”

_ Huh, I don’t remember that being there, let alone taking any medicine.  _ My mom will freak out if she sees I haven’t taken it, so I pick it up and dry swallow it.

I walk over to the kitchen to get water, and my forehead starts throbbing.  _ Must be from the gaming, there’s no way the medicine would have an instantaneous effect. _

Then, my vision starts blurring and I trip and fall. The pain in my head grows exponentially and I tear up in sheer pain.  _ What’s...in this...thing? _ I slowly rise, clutching the counter and staggering towards the sink. My body’s trembling as my knuckles turn white.  _ What’s happening to me? _

I switch on the faucet and splash some water on myself, but it doesn’t help. I reach into my pocket for my phone to call emergency services and I’m about to type the numbers in, when another wave of pain sends me crashing. I attempt to stand up, and right before my legs give in, throw myself into a seat.

I clasp my hands, panting, and put my head down. An image of fire makes my eyes snap wide open.  _ What...is this?  _

Those same images of burning houses, this time the fire being contained to the first one on the block. Screams from a familiar voice, clattering of debris, the wail of sirens, they all flood my ears. I plug in my ears, a poor attempt to block them out. Tears are trickling down my face.  _ God...it's getting closer, the fire’s...everywhere. _

“ _ Bangaram, vellu! Kalipothavu!” _ the woman in the building warns to me. 

_ Wait...son? This dream always ended with them both dying, how is she my mother? Please tell me this isn’t real. I don’t know if this is real. Are my parents my biological ones?  _ The questions swarm in my head like a hive of bees, and slowly, the pain starts to go away, gradually decreasing as everything becomes clearer. I hear two loud chimes from my headset, most likely Hikari. 

I slide off the chair, head in my hands, and finally get a glass of water. I chug it down, parched and slam the glass down violently. I walk to the InterSynk room, now completely dark.

I sit down and take a deep breath.  _ Everything’s gonna be okay, must have been an allergic reaction.  _ I pull the headset over my head, immersed into the game again. Hikari still sits in the chair, looking more relaxed and even trying out the customization features. She doesn’t have the new notifications alert on her character like it would if she sent something to me.  _ That’s odd.  _

I check my inbox.  _ Wait, a message from Lunar-Moon? Why?  _ I open it up.  _ Yesterday? I must've missed it.  _ I skim it.  _ Oh god. Is this true?  _ I scroll down.  _ There’s another one!  _ I read it rest, horrified.

**Lunar-Moon789:** Avinash Grandhi, I warn you, stay away from Hikari Morimoto. She is a wanted criminal and she may be dangerous. Failure to do so will get you banned and possibly terminated. Here at SkyWorld we want to ensure the safety of our users. This includes following our rules. Stay safe and happy playing! (Two days ago)

**Lunar-Moon789:** Enjoyed your little surprise? I warned you :) (Now)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > “Bangaram, vellu! Kalipothavu!” the woman in the building warns to me.   
> This line is Telugu for, "My son, run or you'll get burned."


	23. Chapter 23

**C H A P T E R 2 2**

**A V I N A S H**

“Avinash! You good there buddy?”

“Gah!” I jump back, hands shaking as I close the email window. Her eyes, now a glittering magenta, are keenly focused on my face.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” I reply, unable to keep the fear in my voice from showing itself.

I take a deep breath in real life, an action that Hikari isn’t able to see, and steady myself. 

“So, how was the break?” 

“Pretty good, if I say so myself. I’m designing an outfit to keep myself from going insane.”

“Cool.”

“By the way, you returned quicker than I expected. Something happen? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine. Nothing happened.”  _ I am most DEFINITELY not fine.  _

“Ooo...kay then?” she says, incredulously.

She fiddles with the UI, stealing glances at me every few seconds. I try to keep a poker face as I re-read the message. Finally, she sighs and walks over.

“The text.”

“W-what?”

“The text, let me see it.”

“It’s private!” I stumble back.

“You really think that’s gonna stop me?”

With probably the most smug look on her face that I’ve seen, she types in a line of code and hits enter.

_ No. _

She taps into my DMs, and reads the recent message. 

Her eyes narrow. 

“Looks like we can’t trust them either.” she closes out of the window and turns to stare at me. 

“Is...this true?”

She averts her eyes from mine.

“Yeah...but it’s not under the circumstances that you think.” she says.

“What were you in for?”

“How do I put this...treason?”

“Treason-?”

“WELCOME TO THE FINAL BATTLE EVERYONE!” Lunar-Moon shrieks.

I turn to face the speaker.  _ Could she have heard everything we were saying? _

“In this game, teams will battle each other in groups of two, against another. The teams who win will progress to the second round, the final one. Passive and elemental skills will be activated in this round as an FYI. May the odds be ever in your favor!”

_ Hunger Games reference, how fitting. _

“So...fingers crossed we’re not first.”

“Let’s hope.”

There’s a bit of silence and then Hikari speaks.

“Did she do anything to you?”

_ Huh? _

“I read all the messages, and she said something about a ‘surprise,’ what was it about?”

_ The pill? No, there’s NO way she sent it there that fast. _

“C’mon, tell me, even if you think you’re wrong. Is this why you came back early?”

I put my palm to my forehead.

“Well, I took a pill and had a weird nightmare. I thought I was going to die.”

She blinks in surprise.

“What did the pill look like?” she says, suspicion in her voice.

“Well, it was a clear green softgel, and my dad’s handwriting was on a sticky note.“

Her eyes darken, and that’s when she moves.

Hikari grabs me by the arm, and pulls me to the hallway.

_ What’s happening? _


	24. Chapter 24

**C H A P T E R 2 3**

**A V I N A S H**

Hikari pulls me to the end of the hallway. She lets go of my wrist suddenly, pushing me into the corner. I rub my wrist as her eyes do a sweep of the area. She turns back to me.

“What was that for?” I ask.

“You have to listen to me. You could very well be in danger.” she warns.

“I-I don’t understand. Is this about the pill or something?”

She stops.

“Yeah, this is about the pill, or rather, what it’s intended function is.”

* * * * *

**H I K A R I** **SIX YEARS AGO**

“Mom! Something came in the mail! Can I go get it?”

“Absolutely not, young lady. You know how dangerous it is out there.”

“I’ll be safe!”

With a sigh, Mom responds.

“Alright, but do it from where I can see you.”

“Okay!”

I open the door, all old and almost about to break. The war is at its end and things are cooling down. Now, police are swarming the streets, trying to keep everyone safe. 

I jump off of the porch barefoot, and walk towards the mailbox. I open the hinge. There is a single red envelope inside. I grab it and close the lid.

_ Rattle Rattle. _

_ Huh? Where did that noise come from? Is it from the envelope? It’s probably a big-adult-thing they’re not gonna tell me about. _

I walk up to the door and close it on my way inside.

“There’s a weird thing inside these, Mom.”

“Give them to me then. I don’t want you getting hurt. Get Dad and we’ll open them together.”

“He’s already here!” my Dad barrels through the door, a smile on his face. He picks me up and hugs me.

Mom opens the envelope and pulls out a card with a small container attached to it. 

She skims over the card while me and Dad watch.

“Oh, it's just some medicine  _ okaasan  _ sent us.”

“What is it made out of?” Dad asks.

“Eucalyptus leaf and mint extract. It’s probably just for calming our nerves after this big war.”

“Why are there only three though? Wouldn’t she want us to take one a day?” I question.

“Resources are valuable during this time, so come on now, let’s all take it and send our thanks.” my Mom says.

_ Wait. What happened to Mom’s eyes? They’re a weird green color. And why does she want me to take the medicine so quickly, isn’t she all about preserving things?  _

I look up into Dad’s eyes.  _ Oh no, him too? Am I going crazy or is everyone’s eyes green?  _ She opens the container and hands me the pill and a cup of water.

_ I guess I have no choice then.  _

I take the pill, and gulp the water down.

Then suddenly, both Mom and Dad collapse, and awaken in the blink of an eye.

“Mom, Dad, are you guys okay?”

“Never better! Her medicine must have done the trick! It was relaxing.” Mom says, her eyes once again dark brown.

“We really need to repair that door, let’s go shopping next weekend!” Dad announces.

“Sounds like a good idea. When did it even get this broken?”

“Um, the war, duh.” I say.

“What war sweetie? Have you been reading too many history books?” my Mom questions.

_ Oh no. Tell me this is a prank.  _

* * * * *

**A V I N A S H**

Hikari looks ready to explain to me, but then, everything pixelates around me as the world fades to black.


	25. Chapter 25

**C H A P T E R 2 4**

**H I K A R I**

I land face-first in white, cold powder. Shivering, I push myself up and shake off the snow from my body.

_ Where am I? Is this the beginning of the PvP? _

I survey my surroundings while equipping a coat. Before me is a clearing in the middle of a forest, snow pouring in from the gray sky endlessly. 

_ Feels like the real thing. Chilly, too. _

Suddenly, a spray of snow lands on me. I turn my head. 

“Gah...did the PvP start already?” Avinash grumbles, covered in snow.

“Yeah, at least that’s what I thought.”

“Great.”

I stomp over, extending a hand towards him. He takes it and pulls himself to a standing position.

“We need to come up with a strategy, and fast.” he says, looking out towards the horizon.

“I don’t think we can do that unless we observe the enemy-” 

“KABOOM!”

We both whip our heads towards the clearing, quickly filling with smoke. Coughing, I squint my eyes.  _ There.  _ Two figures. A girl, who most likely caused the explosion, and a boy with a sphere of water in his hands, poised to attack. 

“Found you.” <seasalty> smirks.

I tap Avinash on the shoulder, and motion for him to start running. At least, we try to. Before I can even set a foot down, Avinash gets hit in the back with a rush of water, and stumbles forward.

_ Okay Hikari, it’s time to Xanatos Speed Chess your way out of this.  _ I pull up my keyboard as <seasalty>, or, rather, Mark Brenton jeers at me.

“What’s the matter, you can’t get back- aargh!”

Using my commands, I brighten the contrast of his end of the goggles.

“What did you do?!” he screams as the white gets more intense and (just maybe) stresses his retinas.

“You know, I’ve always wondered what happens when you combine light powers with higher exposure?”

“Arrrgh!”

“NO, PLEASE STOP!” Avinash shouts.

I turn my head in surprise.

“You might actually damage his retinas! You’re not actually trying to kill someone, are you?” 

_ Do my powers really have this type of effect on people? Just how powerful is this command? Anyways, I should probably remove it or it might actually hurt him. _

“I’m not. Sorry about that!” I delete the line of code, and Mark immediately sighs with relief. whitewind, or Shannon Fletcher, runs to comfort him.

“Let’s go! We can’t waste anymore time!” Avinash warns.

And with that, we run into the woods.


	26. Chapter 26

**C H A P T E R 2 5**

**H I K A R I**

We keep pace as the landscape around us starts changing. Suddenly, a wave of heat hits me square in the face.

“Hey, I don’t know if this hypothermia speaking, but is it getting warmer to you?” I ask Avinash, who looks unbothered.

“No, but then again, my elemental class is fire, so I’m probably not affected by it.”

Suddenly, he trips and lands flat on the floor. I force back a laugh as I help him up. There’s a fine coat of tan powder covering him. I dust a bit off of his armor and look closely.

“Is this...sand?”

“It could be. The biome changes about every 100 yards.”

“Good to know.”

My feet start sinking as a light shines brightly in my face. I push past the branches, and it reveals a shining sun with glimmering water. A low hanging palm tree has green coconuts hanging in its leaves.

“A beach...how are we supposed to fight here?”

“These places can be more useful than you think. I mean, a Blacksmith could harvest those trees, and an Alchemist could make a potion with the water and coconuts. Every has its ups and downs.” Avinash rambles, too focused on strategizing to notice me smirking at him.

“Woah...I think that is the smartest I’ve ever heard you today.” I snark.

“What do you mean? I was always the smart one here. I just had more regard for my well-being.” he retorts, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Well, whatever you say. You’re at a disadvantage here with your fire powers and all.”

“True, true.”

“They have to be around here somewhere!” someone in the distance shouts.

_Oh no._

Avinash notices that too, and taps my shoulder. I turn my head. He gestures towards the nearby weeds. I follow and crouch down low.

whitewind and <seasalty> enter the beach. 

“Shannon, can you use your wind to boost me up? I want to get a bird’s eye view of the map, and see if I can spot them.” <seasalty> asks.

“Sure.”

“We have to start moving or attacking.” Avinash whispers.

“Okay, how about I cause a distraction, and you go full ham?”

“On it. Despite that fact that I’m at a disadvantage with my elemental class if I have to fight <seasalty>, it shouldn’t be a problem if I ambush whitewind.”

“Okay, going in.” 

Avinash responds with a thumbs up, and covers his head with his hood. He hides under a palm tree out of their line of sight. I step out and smirk.

“You know, it’s not exactly a good idea to call your neighbor by their real name online, right?”

With that, Mark’s eyes go wide with horror. 

“How do you know we’re neighbors? N-never mind that, it’s time to beat you.” he runs to the water, and promptly gets swallowed by it.

“Wow, so anti-climatic-”

“SPLASH!”

I whip my head around to face the noise. A single foot on each geyser, Mark stands almost 15 feet above me. 

I bring up my inventory and activate my attack, Refraction Beam. I aim for his heart and fire, just as he raises the geysers higher.

“I’ve got the high ground here! Your elemental class can’t defeat me!”

He sends a highly pressured beam of water at my abdomen, throwing me halfway across the beach.

“Arghhh!”

Clutching my stomach, I pull up my power menu just as he prepares to shoot me down again. _He must have a very low cooldown. I have to be careful._

He takes aim and fires. I activate my shield power; Prism Pyramid, and roll out of the way.

“Gah...Mark! Help!”

Mark turns his head. Shannon is sending gusts of air at the ring of fire circled around her, losing health little by little as the flames fan. _Some healer. She can’t even revive herself._

Suddenly, I hear a tiny, barely audible cackle. I turn my head. 

Leaning against a palm tree, with a devilish smirk, is Avinash.


	27. Chapter 27

**C H A P T E R 2 6**

**H I K A R I**

**TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF ABUSE**

“Checkmate, fools!” Avinash roars, as he adds more fire to the already fiery pit of flames.

_Dang. Wish I was at that level right now._

Taking a deep breath, Mark lowers the geysers and starts running.

“Blaze! Watch out!” I yell, as I chase after him.

Avinash turns his head right as Mark’s about to hit him with a stream of water. He fakes left and the spray hits the palm tree he was previously leaning on.

“Having fun?” Avinash taunts.

“Grr…”

I pull up my keyboard, ready to disarm him. _ellipse(23, 17-_

“BANG!”

 _What was that noise?_ I survey the map. _Nothing._

Even Mark and Avinash stopped pinning each other to try to find the source.

“I’m sorry…” a muffled voice sobs. _Shannon?_

Another crash. _What’s happening?_

Another cry of pain. Then, I realize, my eyes widening in horror.

I run to Mark, and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps back, untrusting.

“What are you trying to do?” he grouses, backing away.

“It’s about Shannon. I think she’s in danger!”

“Danger...what da-?!”

The realization hits him hard, with the force of a bullet. Without wasting a second, he puts out the fire.

“Oh my god...is this what I think it is?” Avinash murmurs, and I pull him towards the ring.

“SHANNON! ARE YOU OKAY?!” Mark yells, clutching Shannon’s unmoving character, his face ghost-white.

The noises have stopped. _Either she turned off her mic, or whoever’s hurting her_

“Is she okay? Never mind that, Hikari!” Avinash calls.

“What?”

“Dig their location up and I’ll call the nearest abuse hotline.” he commands, his voice suddenly devoid of emotion.

Avinash tries to get Mark’s attention, while I hack Mark’s account. 

“XX Nightway Lane, Buffalo, New York!”

“On it Hikari, Mark has appeared to go into some sort of shock. He isn’t responding to me. Tell him to log in and check on him!”

“Okay!”

I crouch down to Mark’s level.

“Should’ve known...why can’t I...do anything...?” he says, on the verge of crying.

I place a hand on his back, and suddenly, he stiffens.

“Mark, if you can, please go check on her.”

“It’s...not safe. He’ll know, and Shannon will get hurt again.”

“Who’s he?”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then responds.

“Her ex.”

_Crap._

“It’s fine. We’ve alerted local authorities. She’ll be safe.”

“Are you sure?”

“I...doubt it, but at the very least, we’ll be able to prevent her from getting hurt more.”

“Okay. I’ll go check on it.”

I hug him, taking him by surprise. 

“Friend us, and let us know if the situation has been resolved or not.”

“Thanks...maybe you guys aren’t jerks after all.”

“Oh, we are jerks, this is common decency. Take care, all right?”

“Mmhm.”


End file.
